Sugar Coated Truth
by LeeshaBean
Summary: Gwen is forced to go on a family holiday which she isn't too thrilled about, but her opinion quickly changes when she finds out a dark secret the holiday resort is hiding. Things aren't always as they seem, especially when you're dealing with mythical creatures. Mermaid Courn AU. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! It's Leesh here, so this is my first ever published fanfiction (woo) It's 1am here so please forgive me if there is any spelling mistakes, i will fix them as soon as possible if you point them out to me. I'd really appreicate feedback as i've never actually showed anyone else my writing before so i was kind of on the fence about posting this. This chapter was almost like an introduction, the next chapter will actually include mermaids! (yaaay) and will focas mainly on Courtneys side of the story and then after thats out of the way the fic will be in full swing with interactions from both parties (woohoo!) Thankyou for taking your time to read this and i hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 1**

For after what seemed like hours,the boat finally pulled up at the dock and Gwen, along with the other 30 or so people that were on the boat with her had arrived at camp wawanakwa. Finally! The teenager didn't have to stand any more hours of staring out of tiny car windows listening to her brother complain about how long the drive was taking. Nor did she have to endure sitting on a rickety boat uncomfortably close to an elderly couple raving about how beautiful and tranquil the camp ground was as they shared stories from there past experiences going there.

Gwen recalled back to the first time her mother mentioned said holiday a couple of months ago and in all honesty she wasn't the slightest bit thrilled unlike her mother when addressing the news. Gwen didn't like change, and never had - she would have preferred to stay in her bedroom catching up with homework and sketches. However her perception of the holiday changed when she decided to do a little research on the venue, Gwen quickly learned as a child that behind every sweet word was the ugly truth and nothing ever was as peachy keen as people said it would be. After hours of looking at boring reviews and images of the resort they would be staying at Gwen came across a bit of information that intrigued her. Hidden deep amongst the other far less interesting knowledge of camp wawanakwa Google had to offer she was able to find that the island had a secret that they were desperately trying to cover up. Reports of several teenagers going missing on the island in the past year had been shared on the internet in a brief panicked post but it lacked detail. Gwen searched and searched and from one post to another she finally found a website that held all the information she could ever wish or hope for. The website was one page, no explanation or anything, not even the URL wasn't readable, just a jumble of letters that would be difficult to remember. On the page however were the photographs and names of every teenager than had been reported and remained missing along with the date they had been missing since. The list of people went like this:

**'Ezikiel Petinger - 28th February 2013 **

**Katie Moreno - 4th April 2013 **

**Sadie Austin - 6th april 2013**

**Lightning Archer - 18th june 2013**

**Leshawna Robinson - 4th July 2013**

**Cody Anderson - 30th August 2013 **

**Scott Foxx - 2nd October 2013**

**Beth adams - 18th November 2013 **

**Tyler Stockwell - 3rd December 2013 **

**Lindsay Gray - 2nd January 2014'**

Underneath the list were a few blurred photographs of the lake that bordered camp wawanakwa, in said photographs were dark blurred figures that Gwen couldn't quite figure out what they were. It proved even more difficult to Phaethon out what the said figures were when there was no caption, no description what so ever, just the photographs on their own. Gwen thought this website to be a reliable source of information as it was really the only source of information she could find, she saved it to a new tab of her internet browser. At least it would give her something remotely interesting to do while stuck on that island for four weeks.

As everyone exited the boat onto the dock they were greeted by two people, one boy and one girl - Gwen guessed that they were both around her age give or take a year or were dressed in tan shorts and purple polo neck t-shirts with the company logo stitched on the left hand side."Hi there everyone! My names Zoey and welcome to camp wawanakwa" The girl that greeted them was sickeningly sweet,just a little too chipper for Gwen at this moment in time. The girl in question was unbelievably bright and cheery, and she reminded Gwen of one of those sugar coated berry girls with brightly coloured hair and ridiculous dress sense from cartoons. Her hair was a vibrant red and bunched into two pig tails. Her glossed lips cast a constantly wide smile almost like she was trying a bit too hard, but she seemed tolerable non the less. "And I'm DJ, y'all are gonna have a great time trust me, here are Some brochures that will give you the details about everything happening on the island" The boy handed out the leaflets to the people stood on the dock as he introduced himself. He was extremely tall and towered over most of the others around him, even the adults. He literally fit the definition of '6 foot tall 6 foot wide' but despite his large muscles and intimidating physique, the male had a relaxed expression on his face and his voice was calm and cool that it made even the grumpy goth feel at ease. "In ten minutes our fellow rep Bridgette is holding a surfing class for beginners so if your interested in going then head over to that building over there and pick out a wetsuit and a board and Bridge will be right over" The red head extended her arm and pointed to a building not to far off into the distance known as the surf shack as her parter finished the rest of the information off for her. "Just look out for a girl a little taller than Zoey, blonde hair in a pony tail and the same uniform as us - you can't miss her"

Gwen's younger brother Gareth began to get extremely exited at the thought of free surfing lessons, finally he could go back home and show his friends something he could do but they couldn't! "Awh mom please can I go, I'll unpack afterwards I promise" The boy said as he clung to his mothers arm almost like a child as she rolled her eyes playfully in response. "I don't see why not, alright then - you go and me and Gwen will find the cabin and get our bearings, I'll come get you in a couple of hours by the beach" "okay! Thanks mom your awesome!" They were the last words that escaped the boys mouth before he half ran half skipped away in the direction of the surf shack, to which the two females shared a light chuckle over.

Gwen and her mother had found the reception desk with the help of DJ's kind words and were given the key to the cabin they would be staying in for the next 4 weeks. The cabin was simple and large enough: a kitchen/dining space,a living room and three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs but it was decent all the same. "Gwen you can go unpack if you like, all the rooms are the same so help yourself to whichever one you want - I'll make some sandwiches and then we can explore the island a little more after I go fetch your brother" Gwen smiled at her mother,she really did appreciate everything she did for her and Gareth, even if she didn't show it that often, but she knew her mother knew she did - they had they're own way of showing appreciation had they hardly had to say a word. "Alright thanks, can we have Nutella sandwiches? Pleeeeassee" Gwen sang the last part in a teasing sing song voice as there was always an unspoken rule in their house which was 'no sweet fillings for main meals' however that rule could always be broken under one condition. "Fine, but only because we're on holiday" "Thanks mom you're the greatest" Gwen ran the rest of the way up the stairs only to be greated by a small hallway decorated with blue paint that was slowly fading and peeling away and a lopsided painting of the view of the island from the dock. The girl walked down to the farthest end of the hallway and turned the door knob. "I CALL THE ROOM FURTHEST FROM THE STAIRS" Gwen shouted down to her mother as she entered the room."OKAY SWEETIE" was all she got in reply.

Yet again the room was nothing special, it was large enough and had the basics : bed,dresser, chest of draws,shelf with ridiculous knick-knacks related to the goth chucked her belongings onto the already made bed- 'I'll see to them later' she thought. Next to her bed was a small window framed by two ratty curtains that frayed at the bottom. The window was pretty low down starting just above where her knees were and finished at the tip of her nose. She had to bend slightly to peer through the window to try and figure out the view, her efforts however were futile as the glass was frosted and all she got to see were the dozen of flys buzzing around the corners of her window pain. She noticed that one of the pains of glass had been cracked, as she examined it she noticed a dull dent the size of a bullet hole with five straight cracks sprawling out in all directions to the edge of pain of glass. Gwen came to the conclusion that the damaged window had been caused by a dull object thrown at the window probably out of rage, heavy enough to crack the window but light enough to not smash it teen placed a slender pale finger on the pane of glass and brushed her finger over each crack of the window to test if the glass was sharp enough to cut through skin. Her results deemed that the glass wasn't sharp enough to be labeled as a hazard and then carried out another experiment by pushing the glass as hard as she could with the palms of her hands but it wouldn't budge. Damaged but not a huge hazard so the don't replace it? 'Typical cheapskates' she though to herself.

The goth then got bored of the thrilling window investigation and decided too pay attention to the rest of her accommodation for the next 4 weeks. She immediately flopped onto her bed and stared up at the stained ceiling,she came to the decision that the place wasn't _that _bad. Sure it was plain and a little broken here and there, it needed some touch ups but it had a humbleness to it,a sense of nostalgia if you will. What Gwen liked about the the cabin was that it was real - no fancy curtains or cushions to distract from the peeling paint on the walls or the slight damp near the edges of the skirting board. And honestly, it reminded her a lot of herself. What you saw was what you got, no false illusions or bent truths just her as plain as she was with all flaws presented to anyone and everyone who interacted with her. And she liked it that way. The teal haired teen suddenly started to feel the precious lack of sleep creep up on her as her eyes began to droop and her mind slowly started shutting down its thoughts ready for sleep. She didn't really care that it was only the middle of the afternoon, getting dragged out of bed at that ungodly hour of the morning was bad enough and she thought she deserved a little time to catch up on sleep, she was on holiday after all. And with that the girls eyes had fluttered shut, the only sound to be heard was the faint rise and fall of her breathing in every breath she took as she drifted into a well deserved peaceful sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**((AN: ok so i'm so sorry for not updating in so long, i've been busy with work and school ect but more chapters will be coming out frequently i promise! This chapter just kinds of gets all the questions out of the way and opens up the story, the chapter after this will also be the same because it was too long to have it as just one chapter but after that there will be Courn interactions i swear! Anyway i hope you enjoy please r&r))**

Mermaids - a myth extending over millions of years full of stories about breath taking maidens capturing the hearts of fair princess with songs and falling in love. However mer-people are far from tales of love and pretty women. They are murderous cunning creatures that elicit pleasure from the destruction of humankind and it just so happens that there are some living in the waters of lake were sixth of them inhabiting the waters of this part of the lake that they knew of - four females and two males. They had all once been a part of a larger tribe that lingered around the outskirts of the lake, far deeper into the waters than where the 6 live currently. However, each of them were banished from the tribe and forced into exile. At that point they decided to stick together to at least make a valiant effort to survive rather than meeting a lonely perishable were they banished and never allowed in those parts of the waters as long as they lived? Simple, they were freaks- and even in the deep depths of the waters, freaks are not welcome.

Despite popular belief above water, not every mer-person is a beautiful and breath taking by the standards of land dwelling society anyway. Since they were created due to mutation, some were more mutated than others, thus appearing more 'ugly' to those living above the water. However under the water the perception of beauty was flipped, mutation was a respected honourable trait: the more mutated you are, the higher your class rank and class is what lead to Justin being outcasted by the rest of his tribe. Justin was gorgeous. Everybody knew this, but he liked to keep everyone reminded of it. He truly was. Tanned skin, deep blue eyes, chiseled features, and a body to match. However, no matter how gorgeous he was, it didn't take away the fact that he was the lowest class of the sea. You see, Justin was one of the least mutated people in his tribe. He was still mostly human apart from gills and the tail of a paradise fish. Justin was quite an arrogant and vain man, relying on his appearance to get him far in life. However, looks aren't always everything, especially under the water. Justin was harassed constantly by the upper class, spat on and treated like he was lesser than the rest. For years he'd been ridiculed for his low mutation and decided to stand up and challenge one of the high ranking members of the tribe. Of course Justin's arrogance got the best of him and he'd lost, only subjecting him to more humiliation and ultimately got him exiled.

Dakota was a prime example of the higher class of mutation. She was at least twice the size of the rest of the tribe, her skin mostly made up of scales apart from the main part of her face. Fins rose out of the tops her shoulders and at the side of her hips before descending into a tail of a saw shark. Her teeth were sharp and pointed fangs, the sclera of her eyes were bright orange and her pupils a deep red. Her hair was replaced by a thick head of short green scales and her ears split into three points at the tip. Dakota was proud of her mutation. She was one of the highest classes in the tribe and oh how she loved it. She loved attention and oh how she would love if one day she became a well known figure of beauty to be worshiped. However her pride in her looks and mutation were tainted when a disastrous accident occurred and ruined Dakota's status forever. Dakota was hunting alone on this particular day, exploring the outskirts of the lake where they were advised not to go- what's the worst that could happen? Pollution. Dakota had ended up trapped in the middle of an oil spill - the chemicals from the oil bleaching half of her skin and her scales so much that patches of scales started to fall off. Thick claggy black gunk clung to her scales along with sticks and other litter found floating at the top of the lake. As she tried to free herself, she managed to damage one of her lower tail fins in the process and also lost sight in one of her eyes. She made it back safe to her tribe hoping to get some sympathy from the others and maybe a cure for her injuries but all she was met with was ridicule. She was disgusting, vile, a monster. Everyone who had loved and adored Dakota Milton now only looked away in shame and pity and eventually stared at her with dull emotionless faces as they watched her being forced out of the tribe forever. Dakota could hardly cope with this sudden change, all she ever lived for was gone and replaced by an uncontrollable amount of anger. Nowadays Dakota never talks, she just swims aimlessly back and forth for hours on end with the same expression that the people of her tribe looked at her with.

Heather was the leader of the pack, it was her idea in the first place to start fresh with the other rejects so she found it only fair that she should rightfully be the leader. Heather had a strong belief for the saying "there are only two types of people in the world ; shepherds and sheep" and Heather was definitely a shepherd. She had no intention of following anyone else's orders, she was born to lead and although most of the group didn't like her having all the power, they thought it was best to just go with it rather than to get on her bad side. Even her appearance showed she was not one to mess with : long pin straight raven hair, sharp slanted dull eyes and large lips that were constantly etched into a frown; her face always masked in a scowl. Her body was slender with fair skin, scales scattered her arms,across her stomach and slightly into her hairline followed by the tail of a Japanese koi fish extending out past her waist. Just like her exterior, she was just as cold and ruthless on the inside. Life was a big game to her and she intended to manipulate everyone to her beck and call to win.

Alejandro was the second male of the group. A confident charming spaniard with a tail of an eel. His power of manipulation coupled with his charm was almost unstoppable. He had every female and even most males wrapped around his finger with the sweet words he'd lure them with. Alejandro was a very talented young man and excelled in a lot of things. With outsiders he was a very modest and humble man, but back in his own habitat he was a very arrogant show off. He spoke in such a soft gentlemanly tone that could make the strongest willed people melt. His looks definitely helped as well. Dark tanned skin, deep green eyes framed by thick eyebrows, thick brown locks of hair, and an outstanding and Heather were both banished for the same reason: love. It didn't start off as love between the two, first they had a very strong competitive relationship, rivals you might say. But after time they started to notice this sudden spark that no one could really explain and then it spiralled into this complicated mess they call love. It wasn't meant to happen - neither of them had intentions to be in a positive relationship with each other, but sometimes life is just unexpected. Just like the view of appearance under the water was flipped, so was sexuality. Homosexuality was the norm in the waters. Relationships were a common thing. Once a mermaid or merman found their other half they would normally work together in capturing a human victim and would be classed as a pleasurable bonding experience to do as a couple. Of course under the water it was exclusively homosexual. Heterosexuality did occur from time to time, but it was seen frowned upon. Heather and Alejandro weren't told they were banished exactly, but after months of being blanked by almost everyone in the tribe and having everyone act like they didn't exist, they decided it was for the best that they leave.

Then there was Dawn. She was elf like in appearance. Such a small and dainty frame with snow white skin, even her ears were pointed and sharp. Her eyes were a dull blue, framed by thick eyebrows and dark bags under her eyes, and her hair was a thick mane of pale blonde hair. Beneath her waist was the bottom of a Stellata jellyfish, a rather harmless creature with a mild stinger. Dawn was such a sweet and caring individual, especially when it came to nature, which was what led to her exile. You see, Dawn was able to see the good in anyone and any creature. Even humans. However it was deemed revolting to have any positive emotional attachment to a human. Dawn vowed to never cause harm to any living creature no matter how vile but that didn't sit well with the others in the tribe. They were supposed to cause destruction to the human race, not make friends with them. Which was why they decided that the human siding freak should leave the tribe.

Of course every story focuses on one particular character, and in this story she goes by the name of Courtney. Such a determined and wise individual. She knew what she wanted and exactly how to get it. Twisting laws and finding loopholes to her advantage. Thick brown hair decorated with shells and seaweed framed her face and sat neatly on her shoulders. Her eyes were large and dark with a flurry of thick lashes accompanied by a small upturned nose and wide thick her waist was the tail of an angel fish, a strong purple base with dual fins either side, and a large fin in an almost olive colour that matched the few stripes decorating the the others, her actions were not the reason she was forced into exile. She followed the rules, she was a good girl. Poised and proper and absolutely perfect. However herreputation of a perfect child was shattered when a murder occurred in the tribe, but of course Courtney had nothing to do with the murder of a fellow mermaid. But due to a certain grudge held between her and another member of her tribe, Courtney was framed and banished from their part of the waters. It was extremely unfair as she wasn't even allowed a fair trial and of course she commented on that - she wasn't going to leave without a fight and that's why she was forcefully dragged out kicking and screaming.

Mermaids hunted males, mermen hunted females, it had been that way since the dawn of time and the tradition would stay that way for many years afterwards as was a custom among all mer-creatures that the opposite gender of the victim would be allowed to do what they please with the victims body. Be that feast upon the victims flesh, use their innards to decorate themselves and their homes, or to keep any items they found on the person's body. Merpeople of the same gender as the victim are not permitted to partake in these rituals. They stay silent and watch from the sidelines instead as a form of respect for the victim. Merpeople would collect items found on the victims body and keep them as a trophies. Items such as clothing and jewellery would be worn with pride as a symbol of accomplishment. Another custom was that the person who captured them would have first choice on what to do with the victim and take whatever items they found on their person, whatever was left was open to the other mer-people to do what the please with.


End file.
